Markets end near day's lows, bank shares weigh

Markets end near day's lows, bank shares weigh

Markets ended near their day's lows weighed down by profit taking in financials and index heavyweight Reliance Industries after recent gains.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 80 points at 20,895 after hitting a low of 20,861 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 38 points at 6,219 after touching a intra-day low of 6,209.

The rupee weakened in late noon trade today due to dollar demand from importers. According to currency dealers, besides dollar gaining against other currencies in the global markets, lower opening in the domestic equity market too influenced the rupee's depreciation.

At 3:40PM, the rupee was trading at Rs 62.19 compared with previous close of Rs 61.63 per dollar.

Asian shares ended lower on Wednesday with the exception of Japan's Nikkei which ended up 0.8% after global car major Toyota Motor Corp upped its earnings guidance. Japan's Nikkei ended up 0.8% while Straits Times and Hang Seng ended flat with negative bias while Shanghai COmposite ended down 0.8%.

European stocks were trading higher on better-than-expected earnings from Alstom SA and ING Group NV. The CAC-40, DAX were up 0.4-0.8% each while FTSE-100 was trading flat with positive bias.

The BSE COnsumer Durables was the top loser among the sectoral indices down 2.2% followed by Bankex, Realty, Metal, Oil and Gas, FMCG indices. Gainers include BSE Power, IT and Healthcare indices.

In the financials space, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 1-2% each.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was down 1% at Rs 899.

Tata Motors ended nearly 1% down amid profit taking after the stock touched a 52-week high of Rs 401 on the BSE in intra-day trade today.

Bajaj Auto ended 1.2% lower at Rs 2,070 after reporting 6% year-on-year (yoy) decline in total sales at 385,323 units during the month of October 2013 due to fall in commercial vehicles sales. The two-wheeler maker had sold 411,502 units in the same month last year.

IT stock gained among a weakening rupee and better-than-expected numbers from Cognizant. Sensex gainers include, TCS and Infosys along with Sun Pharma. ITC which had dropped over 3% on Tuesday rebounded today and ended with marginal gains.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) recovered from day's low and ended up 0.5% at RS 143. The company reported a sharp 64% year-on-year (yoy) decline in net profit at Rs 456 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 (Q2), due to lower operational income. The state-owned heavy electrical equipment maker had profit of Rs 1,274 crore in a year ago quarter.

Among other shares, ABB India ended 2.5% higher at Rs 645 after reporting 67% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 36 crore for the third quarter ended September 2013 (Q3), despite fall in operational revenue. The company had profit of Rs 21 crore in a year ago quarter.

Shares of rice exporting firms gained 2-4% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on reports that the country has reported a record rise in exports during the previous marketing year. Gainers include, LT Foods, KOhinoor FOods and KRBL.

The BSE Mid-cap was ended down 0.2% and the BSE Small-cap index ended up 0.8%.

Market breadth was positive with 1,309 gainers and 1,145 losers on the BSE.